حسین مکی آبادی

The focus of prior studies has been on introducing different cultulings in Iranian culture; as a result, little attention has been given to their relationship with individual differences and language-related variables. Therefore, to address this gap, the researchers first devised a cultuling competency test to measure individuals’ ability to identify 14 culturally different contexts. They then substantiated the construct validity of the cultuling competency test through CFA, and its reliability was measured using Cronbach’s alpha, suggesting high reliability. Next, the researchers aimed to assess the role of cultuling in individuals’ language aptitude, verbal intelligence, cultural intelligence, and second language (L2) willingness to communicate (WTC). The results indicated that cultuling is a significant predictor of verbal intelligence. It was also found that L2 WTC and cultural intelligence are positively correlated. Finally, the findings revealed that language aptitude has a significant relationship with both cultural and verbal intelligence.

Phonological awareness has been defined as the speaker’s sensitivity to the phonological characteristics of a language. The present study is aimed at exploring the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ explicit phonological awareness, their foreign accentedness and speech comprehensibility as perceived by native and non-native English-speaking EFL teachers. To determine the relationships, the researchers used a set of tasks that measured 34 EFL learners’ phonological awareness in five domains of rhyming, alliteration or onset, segmenting, blending, and manipulation. They also asked the participants to read a short text which was recorded and later rated for accentedness and comprehensibility on a 9-point scale. Results indicated that there was a significant correlation between the learners’ phonological awareness and perception of foreign accentedness. The same was true about the correlation between phonological awareness and speech comprehensibility. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation was found between foreign accentedness and comprehensibility, suggesting that foreign accentedness could affect comprehensibility of L2 speech. The findings suggest that pedagogical strategies that highlight formal properties of language be employed in second language classrooms to reduce learners’ foreign accent and increase their speech comprehensibility.